Changes beginning to ensure power at Candlestick

The 49ers won’t be left in darkness at Candlestick Park again, Mayor Ed Lee and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. officials promised Thursday.

Three days after the lights went out before and during the team’s nationally televised “Monday Night Football” game against the Steelers, Lee and PG&E President Anthony Earley described in letters to the team several steps the city and the utility company are taking to avoid repeats of what the mayor called a “national embarrassment.”

“I want to personally reaffirm PG&E’s commitment to ensuring that an outage of this nature doesn’t happen again,” Earley wrote to Jed York, the team’s CEO.

In addition to fixing the primary power line that broke just before the game, PG&E is investigating the situation and all lines connected to the stadium, Earley wrote. The company will install equipment that will provide real-time data on the lines, as well as perform a test to ensure the lights stay on when the stadium switches to back-up power, Earley said. Other “reliability improvements” are also forthcoming, he said.

According to Lee, by today, the Recreation and Park Department, which operates the stadium, will install additional backup power to the computer that partially controls the stadium’s power system.

The start of the game was delayed as tens of thousands of fans inside the city-owned stadium and millions at home prepared for the marquee game on Monday as the lights went off before kickoff. A second, partial outage occurred during the contest, briefly interrupting play. The 49ers went on to win 20-3.

Revamped backup system

The second outage was caused by a malfunctioning switch on the backup power system, which is being replaced starting today.

Officials from PG&E and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission said Thursday that they have not determined the causes of the power failures.

“We all share in tremendous pride at the success of our San Francisco 49ers this season and we are fully committed to supporting continued victories at Candlestick Park for the team and fans across the region,” Lee said.

But the 49ers, who have been playing in San Francisco for 65 years and have won five Super Bowls, are finalizing plans to leave Candlestick for a new stadium in Santa Clara in 2014 or 2015.

Due to rise on what is now a parking lot next to the Great America theme park, the stadium would seat 68,500 spectators, cover 15 acres and cost upward of $1 billion. The 49ers are expecting to commit to playing home games there for at least four decades.

Until then, the team is still on track to play in San Francisco. Two road games remain in the regular season, and Candlestick will host at least one playoff game in January.

“And we will do whatever it takes to get some assurances that this won’t happen again and get the issue rectified so we will not have any problems for the playoff game or any future games,” said Steve Weakland, a team spokesman.

Santa Clara plans

The 49ers’ long-discussed new stadium took more concrete shape last week when Santa Clara officials approved plans to pay for and develop the project. The city’s Stadium Authority, an agency created to oversee the stadium, agreed to enter an $850 million loan commitment with Goldman Sachs, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and U.S. Bank.

While final relocation and finance agreements are still awaiting approval, construction is expected to begin in January 2013.

Lee has said he wants to keep the team in the city, but he acknowledges that the possibility is increasingly slim. An architectural firm has proposed building a 70,000-seat stadium in Hunters Point. No money, however, has materialized in support of that plan.